School Officials Set Timetable On Iu-20 Plan

January 12, 1994|by JOHN P. MARTIN, The Morning Call

School board members and superintendents from 13 area districts last night agreed to decide within a month whether they will support a unique proposal to buy and operate their own residential and day treatment centers to treat severely emotionally disturbed children.

About 70 representatives from districts in Northampton, Monroe and Pike counties settled on the timetable after hearing the proposal from Colonial Northampton Intermediate Unit 20 officials, who would manage the two facilities.

"The commitment you are asking for this evening -- with only parts of school boards here --is totally impossible," Nazareth Area Superintendent John Jenkins told officials at the meeting at the IU's Forks Township headquarters.

But the plan drew questions from some officials and criticism from at least one parent representative at the meeting.

"We feel that we do not have our questions answered and we do not endorse the centers," said Jane Erdo, a parent advocate who heads the IU's Right to Education Task Force.

The proposal stemmed from an IU meeting last year with area superintendents, who complained about the rising cost of special education programs and the lack of alternatives to the state's Approved Private School system, a typical destination for severely emotionally disturbed students. The upshot was a plan for the districts to issue bonds and buy and refurbish two sites -- at an initial cost of about $4 million -- and contract the intermediate unit to operate them.

The residential facility, which could treat about 50 students, would be the first of its kind statewide and could draw students from around the region and beyond. Only about a dozen such students reside in IU 20, and their aggregate tuition this year topped $1.5 million, with local districts shouldering about $600,000.

The day treatment center could serve up to 100 and replace programs previously housed at the Shull Learning Center in Easton, which is closing by order of state education officials.

Both initiatives follow a belief by school officials that education, particularly special education, increasingly means treatment as much as textbooks and instruction. After securing a partial hospitalization license this summer, IU officials hope to access more than $1 million in state medical assistance, instead of relying solely on education funding to cover such costs.

"The marriage between education and welfare has to exist for this thing to survive and grow," Joseph Mickley, the IU's executive director, told the group.

It also represents growing frustration from school district officials that fear rising tuition for severely emotionally disturbed students -- now an average of $60,000 for residential facilities and $20,000 for day centers statewide -- that comes as state reimbursements for such costs have dropped from 80 to 60 percent.

Proponents also argue that a local residential facility could provide a welcome alternative for parents whose children are placed in centers in other states.

The initial proposal does not guarantee cheaper costs and, if rates and state contributions hold, it may cost the districts more per student for residential treatment. But Mickley said many of the details of the plan, including budget estimates, are not final. The plan also hinges on predictions that the state will reduce its share.

And while not every district has such students within its boundaries, IU solicitor Elwood Malos called the local facilities "cheap insurance for a potentially expensive illness."

IU officials have proposed establishing the residential facility by fall 1995 at the site of a former chemical dependency center across from Smithville Elementary School in the East Stroudsburg School District. The day treatment center could be operating this September in a Forks Township complex across from Metzgar's Field along Route 115.

It is unclear how many other roadblocks remain. IU officials said the proposal has won tentative approval from superintendents in neighboring intermediate units, who could send students to the residential facility. But they still lack approval -- and funding -- from state education, health and welfare officials.

Saucon Valley School Board member Robert Osmun noted that many schools in the Approved Private School system can serve students who are emotionally disturbed and have multiple disabilities. He also questioned how a public facility would be more efficient than the private ones.

"I think we need some more assurances that we could accommodate all students and remain competitive," Osmun said.

State Rep. Bob Nyce, a Republican whose 138th District includes many of the affected school districts, said he could not support the plan as he has seen it. Nyce, who sits on the House Education Committee, met with area superintendents this week but said they failed to detail and justify their proposal.

Mickley said IU officials could meet individually with each school board to discuss questions and concerns. But he stressed that the severely emotionally disturbed population is rising, prompting the need for alternatives to the private system.